IIAR

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency continues to move forward with regulations under the American Innovation and Manufacturing (AIM) Act, which will restrict the use of hydrofluorocarbons. The agency is currently working on Subsection (h), which focuses on managing hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and substitutes.

Tristam Coffin, co-founder of Effecterra and president of sustainability, policy, and technical services, said the EPA doesn’t have a statutory date for finalizing the Subsection.

As part of Subsection (h), EPA will establish regulations to maximize the reclamation and minimize the release of HFCs and their substitutes from equipment. This includes implementing practices related to the servicing, repair, disposal, and installation of equipment.

Although the AIM Act was enacted in 2020, Coffin said there is still a general lack of awareness about many of the requirements. “There is a sophisticated group of people that exist in the commercial refrigeration space that have been held to certain rules—historically Section 608, but now with Subsection (h), it opens it to a much wider swath of industries that need to be considering this in their regulatory concerns,” he said.  

IIAR has information on the AIM Act phasedown and resources available at https://www.iiar.org/IIAR/IIAR/Government_and_Code/What_is_the_AIM_Act.aspx.

The AIM Act has focused on three areas: production and consumption, technology and transitions, and refrigeration management. Each use sector has different timelines and refrigerant global warming potential levels for reduction and phaseout. IIAR has information on the AIM Act phasedown and resources available at https://www.iiar.org/IIAR/IIAR/Government_and_Code/What_is_the_AIM_Act.aspx.

Potential Challenges

Coffin said the recent Supreme Court ruling to overturn the Chevron doctrine could have significant impacts on federal regulatory efforts and implementation of the AIM Act.

The Chevron doctrine, established in 1984, required courts to defer to federal agencies’ interpretations of ambiguous statutes. Now, federal courts have more authority to independently interpret laws without deferring to agency expertise. “It will be interesting to see if anyone tries to leverage that against the AIM Act,” Coffin said.

Overturning the Chevron doctrine could mean that the EPA would face more legal challenges when implementing regulations. The AIM Act relies on the EPA’s ability to interpret and apply the law in managing HFCs and other pollutants.

Without Chevron deference, the EPA’s regulatory actions under the AIM Act could be more easily contested in court, potentially leading to a patchwork of rulings and increased uncertainty in regulatory enforcement​.